Month: February 2018
Doing Business Globally and Protecting Your Brand Locally
“Doing business globally” is a fairly ubiquitous phrase these days. With technology providing literally every single business with the capability and the access to start “doing business globally,” the challenge is no longer simply delivering services and products to global markets, it’s creating compelling multilingual content that will raise your brand’s profile, build stronger connections with local audiences and positively impact their buying decisions. Brands that want to increase their market share overseas need translation services that provide global solutions with local expertise.
Localization or localization? That’s precisely the point
Every language has regional and cultural nuances — they have different dialects, vernaculars and grammatical rules. On top of that, there are a host of other considerations like date and time, currencies and symbols, not to mention culturally appropriate idioms, graphics or references. In order to connect with global buyers, marketers must account for these regional differences, because global campaigns left un-localized are a minefield of unintended consequences.
Take, for example, the foreign food distributor whose accurately translated slogan is “locally grown flavours and colours.” Provided with the same copy, a restauranteur in London might find that the slogan resonates, whereas a restauranteur in New York might be suspicious of how local the distributor’s products actually are. The translation is accurate but the distributor’s failure to localize leads to unforeseen credibility issues.
An embarrassing gaffe
Then there’s the case of the hotel chain whose global campaign features a guest checking out, telling the clerk “thanks for having me.” A friendly phrase, widely understood in the US, it implies that the guest was satisfied with their stay. However, that same phrase translated for the chain’s Russian campaign has a couple of different salacious implications. To a Russian audience, the guest is telling the clerk “thanks for ripping me off,” or “thanks for *expletive* me” – both wildly off-brand. Again, the translation is accurate but it fails to account for an idiom in the target language.
A damaging oversight
Most brands have the good sense to stay away from any sort of religious imagery, but a sportswear brand found itself unwittingly in the middle of a controversy over a seemingly innocuous graphic. What was intended to be an embroidered element looked a bit too similar to a religious icon, a serious sign of disrespect in that culture. Followers were enraged, boycotts ensued, products were recalled, the brand was damaged. It was a huge mess due to one graphic was not properly localized.
There are myriad examples of significant mix-ups and translation blunders but they all illustrate the same point — high-quality localization protects your brand.
Of course, it’s not just about avoiding mistakes. Localization provides brands with an opportunity to connect with consumers on a deeper level. Native-language linguists with knowledge of a region’s history, culture, trends and geography can help marketers tailor their message with references that resonate in a way that non-native linguists wouldn’t understand. Local touchstones, sayings, pronunciations or celebrity all help build a bridge directly to the consumer.
Doing it right
Given what we know about the benefits of localization, translating your global marketing campaigns into different languages is no longer good enough on its own. Consumers have more choices than ever before and are bombarded by advertisements, paid posts, and recommendations for a myriad of products and services. They’re becoming more sophisticated by the day and are more likely to tune out content that isn’t relevant to them. Marketers must localize.
It may sound like a daunting, expensive, complex and time-consuming process but, with the right partner, it really doesn’t have to be. Experienced translation services companies with technical expertise can reliably and seamlessly localize and integrate files of any type, using ISO-certified QA processes that rely on experienced translators and technology. The right partner can significantly reduce time and cost while maintaining the integrity of intended meanings across cultures, around the globe. Translation: it’s approachable.
Go ahead, start doing business globally, just make sure you get a trusted localization partner that knows your target market.
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Online Translation Tools: Hidden Dangers of Web Translators & Apps
Are you trusting online translation tools with sensitive information? Google Translate says more than 500 million people use its free online translation service — to the tune of 100 billion words each day. However, what many people don’t realize is just how public — and searchable — online translations can be. Don DePalma of Common Sense Advisory (CSA Research) puts it simply: “Both your employees and your suppliers are unconsciously conspiring to broadcast your confidential information, trade secrets, and intellectual property to the world.” And, says DePalma, about 62% of employees estimate that their colleagues use online translators for business materials. Without a Security and Confidentiality policy in place, this kind of behavior is extremely risky.
The Translate.com problem
In September 2017, a massive data breach at Translate.com was exposed by NRK, a Norwegian news agency. It’s a troubling story for anyone using online translation tools and app translators. Employees at state-run oil company Statoil discovered that text translated at the Translate.com site “could be found by anyone conducting a search,” according to NRK. Tekna (The Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals) performed a handful of simple Google searches to assess the scope of the problem, and they were stunned by the results: “When we sat down and googled we just thought: ‘Wow! What is this?’ This was information from organizations, private companies, government agencies.”
Among the alarming search hits were “notices of dismissal, plans of workforce reductions and outsourcing, passwords, code information and contracts.” Slator performed their own Google searches and found a jaw-dropping amount of information freely available, including “a physician’s email exchange with a global pharmaceutical company on tax matters, late payment notices, a staff performance report of a global investment bank, and termination letters. In all instances, full names, emails, phone numbers, and other highly sensitive data were revealed.” Alarmed about the impact of such sensitive information being so readily accessible, the Oslo Stock Exchange blocked access to Translate.com and Google Translate as well.
According to Slator, Translate.com responded to the crisis in a blog post (which has now been taken down) saying, “There was a clear note on our homepage stating: ‘All translations will be sent to our community to improve accuracy’ and that ‘some of these requests were indexed by search engines such as Google and Microsoft at that time.” The company further suggested that users with privacy concerns could email Translate.com and request the removal of specific items of content from the company’s servers.
Are other online translation tools and apps safe?
While Translate.com has garnered all the headlines, the confidentiality of translated content is a far wider concern than simply this one company. Though few of us ever read a company’s terms of use, both Google Translate and Microsoft Translator, by way of example, say in their legal notices that the use of their services entitles the company to, as Microsoft puts it, “copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Submission.“ Google’s terms are much the same, with an added caveat that users should, “Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services.” Do a company’s employees really possess such rights?
There are plenty of other online translation services, and dozens of translation apps. A quick survey of online services finds few mentions of data security, leaving potential users to either make a guess or abandon any concern regarding confidentiality. Clearly, using a free online translator carries with it a real element of danger.
Translation without the risk
The solution, then, is to avoid the temptation of using online translators and cloud-connected translation apps, and to ensure that everyone at your company understands and respects your commitment to security. When you value the confidentiality of your information — not to mention the quality of your translations — best practice is to have your translations done only by an LSP with ISO 9001:2015 certification and the ability to provide you with rock solid confidence that your materials are truly well-protected.
At Morningside, we have a Privacy Policy in place and regularly handle highly confidential materials. We work with numerous law firms, patent firms and large companies that can’t afford to take any risks when it comes to safeguarding their intellectual property. Security is an integral part of our processes. From utilizing secure encrypted emails to destroying local copies once a project is completed, we take proactive steps to ensure that your documents are protected.